I believe this bird is a purple finch, although I'm open to being corrected.
The purple finch is easy to confuse with normal sparrows, as its reddish color can be fairly muted. Despite its name, I think its color is a bit more in the red range.
Sort of like how the Redbud tree is actually more purplish, but in reverse...
And that's about all I know for now.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Female Bluebird
Cautiously watching this cameraman and waiting for him to leave so she can return to her birdhouse.
Bluebird
The Last Word of a Bluebird
Robert Frost
As I went out a Crow
In a low voice said, "Oh,
I was looking for you.
How do you do?
I just came to tell you
To tell Lesley (will you?)
That her little Bluebird
Wanted me to bring word
That the north wind last night
That made the stars bright
And made ice on the trough
Almost made him cough
His tail feathers off.
He just had to fly!
But he sent her Good-by,
And said to be good,
And wear her red hood,
And look for the skunk tracks
In the snow with an ax-
And do everything!
And perhaps in the spring
He would come back and sing."
Robert Frost
As I went out a Crow
In a low voice said, "Oh,
I was looking for you.
How do you do?
I just came to tell you
To tell Lesley (will you?)
That her little Bluebird
Wanted me to bring word
That the north wind last night
That made the stars bright
And made ice on the trough
Almost made him cough
His tail feathers off.
He just had to fly!
But he sent her Good-by,
And said to be good,
And wear her red hood,
And look for the skunk tracks
In the snow with an ax-
And do everything!
And perhaps in the spring
He would come back and sing."
Cedar Waxwing
I've been seeing these guys around a lot this spring - they gather in the dozens in the holly tree next to the house and in the surrounding trees.
Fun Waxwing Facts...
* Cedar Waxwings normally have bright yellow tail tips. However, some with orange tail tips began appearing in this hemisphere in the 1960s. Apparently, about that time, someone introduced a different species of honeysuckle with red berries. Waxwings that eat the berries while they're growing their tail feathers, may have the tips of the feather come in orange.
* Waxwings are one of the few temperate dwelling birds that specializes in eating fruit (frugivorous!). They can survive on eating fruit alone for months. And, I'm told, that unlike many birds that regurgitate seeds from fruit they eat, the Cedar Waxwing sends the seeds out the other end.
For those who were wondering...
* Waxwings are vulnerable to intoxication and even death if they eat fermented fruit. Not unlike other bipeds we know. (Are birds "bipeds??")
So, keep an eye out for tipsy Waxwings.
Fun Waxwing Facts...
* Cedar Waxwings normally have bright yellow tail tips. However, some with orange tail tips began appearing in this hemisphere in the 1960s. Apparently, about that time, someone introduced a different species of honeysuckle with red berries. Waxwings that eat the berries while they're growing their tail feathers, may have the tips of the feather come in orange.
* Waxwings are one of the few temperate dwelling birds that specializes in eating fruit (frugivorous!). They can survive on eating fruit alone for months. And, I'm told, that unlike many birds that regurgitate seeds from fruit they eat, the Cedar Waxwing sends the seeds out the other end.
For those who were wondering...
* Waxwings are vulnerable to intoxication and even death if they eat fermented fruit. Not unlike other bipeds we know. (Are birds "bipeds??")
So, keep an eye out for tipsy Waxwings.
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